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Sunday 26 April 2009

Avon quad review (and look), thoughts on some of my new stuff, and my current nail look.

[This will be my first review ever :).]

I had the time to play with some of my new stuff :D, and naturally I'm very excited about the products I've tried and would love to share my thoughts with you :). So I will do this :-P ;).

Review: Avon True Colo[u]r Eye Shadow Quad in Smoky Eyes [Q801].

This is what it looks like:

The round shadows look very similar to Lancome or Euro Chanel quads (random note: I hate the US square ones - US people, I pity you a little :-P, but you can't have all the good stuff ^_^), and quite a few of you commented about that on my previous post ;).

But while US Chanel quads are ugly, US Avon ones look good. This is what a European Avon quad looks like:

I hate these. They are so ugly :-/. I don't care how nice the colours are, I will never buy such a stupid-looking quad. If anyone from Avon reads this, perhaps you should rethink some of the junk you toss onto the European market >:-).

Moving on ;). This quad has AVON written on it (not very appealing to be honest, but I can stand it), and the box has some very basic advice on how one should use the shadows.

The quad has an OK-sized mirror and a sponge applicator (one skinny end for lining and one usual teardrop shaped one for shading) included. The shade names are listed on the back. They are White Pearl, Privately Pink, Moonlight and Steel.

White Pearl: I LOVE this :D.
It's maybe the best white I've come across, and certainly one of the best. It can be used sheer, or built up to a lovely matte white. Even when intensified, it's not dead-looking matte, but rather subtly iridescent and very pretty :).

Privately Pink: I HATE this >:-/ :(.
I'm very persistent, so I tried everything. I used my fingers, the sponge applicator and a brush. I tried using it wet. I scraped off the top layer. I scraped off some more and tried using that as colour.
This thing just does not work at all. You'd have better pigmentation from coloured chalk. I'm not kidding - this is so terrible that I'm hoping it's a defective one. Such a shame too because the shade looks so pretty :(! But this is supposed to be eye shadow - and it doesn't do that. At all. Sorry. I'm thinking of smashing this up and using it as loose blusher, but it will probably not even work for that >:-).

Moonlight: Well, first of all I have to mention that as soon as I touched it, the top layer broke off :-P >:-).
Aside from that (which isn't supposed to happen), the colour is lovely :). It's a nice grey that has a subtle glow to it, and yet it's grey, not silver. It's nice and soft too, and pigmented enough. I'm very happy with this :).

Steel: The dark smokey shade of this quad. It's indeed reminiscent of steel, or perhaps graphite. On fair skin, this dark grey colour gives a nicer smoke effect than classic black would. And I love it as a liner ;).

Swatches:

Left to right: White Pearl, Privately Pink, Moonight, Steel. The pink one is barely visible, and that's after multiple layers - and getting this swatch was a pain. I told you the pink was beyond awful.

And here's a simple look using the working >:-D shades from this, which also happens to be my first ever look of the day that isn't for a contest ;D.

I used Moonlight and Steel to line (Steel on top & Moonlight on the bottom), and White Pearl on the lid & all the way up to the brow.

Naked lashes, fair & powdered skin (using my usual skin lot), the lightest shade of my IsaDora Diamond Glow to lightly highlight cheeks, and my new liner from The Body Shop on my mouth. I haven't tried it as an eye liner yet, but I love it as a lip liner :). It turns my natural lip colour into a soft nude shade, and after swapping my L'Oreal nude lipsticks away, I needed that ;).

I look tired :-/...Oh well. You know I'm not photogenic at all.

Here's a rather strange eye close-up:

I am not wearing mascara here. Bless my lashes :).

Here's my usual product pic ;D.

[Lol at me in the mirror. I confess that I did that on purpose :-P.]

Staying power: After 4 hours, no fading or creasing. (I don't use base, only some foundation to even out my lid colour.) I'm satisfied :).

Would I recommend this?

To be honest, I can't :(. The three working shades are lovely, but I can't recommend a product that doesn't at least work - all of it, that is >:-D. If you can find a quad where all colours work though (maybe there was something wrong with mine in particular), this is a lovely smokey eyes quad :). And the packaging looks nice too :-P.

Thanks for reading ^_^!

P.S. Nails of the moment...

[I can't photograph nails well >:-).]

Index finger: Estee Lauder White Beige. The rest: OPI Russian Navy. Everything's been topped off with Oriflame Visions Serial Blogger (love the name, of course XD), I love that glittery lacquer as a top coat on almost everything ;D ^_^.

17 comments:

Kasumi said...

lol. More color than chalk! You're funny!
Aww Hope that one IS a defefctive!
Oh for nail pictures. I suggest taking it under macro setting. It works really well, as it blurs the background image and focuses in on your hands instead.

Chrissy said...

that totally sucks, that the AVON quad sucks. But OMG! I know how totally ugly that European quad is. THat is EXACTLY what the quads here look like and I agree, they look pretty damn ugly!

✿Ji✿ said...

Aw no, not at all! I actually smile a lot with my friends, but I don´t like my smile at all!
I hope you had an awesome birthday!♥

Jem said...

haha..colored chalk!
*lmao*

i would surely love to read your reviews on the makeups that you have at hand..

but i like that white...
i guess its prefect for highlighting!
^_^

Crystal said...

you know what, the avon quads here in the phils also look like the european quads, which is why it's unappealing to buy them. i agree in that. thank you for doing this review!

ami said...

Oh, that's some awesome white you have there!

Love your nails!

Laura L said...

oh girl, u are so sweet. yeah, that swap experience really bad and I'm just cant take it or tolerate with her anymore, so I made a shout out xD, I'm obviously mad at her

fuzkittie said...

I think you're photogenic! Haha! That European Avon quad really is hideous!!!

Cris said...

Fuzkittie thinks I'm photogenic?!?
Fuz, are you sure you mean me XD? Lol.
But that means a lot to me, coming from you :). Thank you ^_^. And though I'm sure you know that already ;D :-P...You're incredibly photogenic :).

Kasumi, thanks ^_^! Yay, I'm funny XD :D.

Chrissy, the whole quad doesn't suck. I love the three shades that work :). But I can't recommend a product that doesn't fully do what it's supposed to :-P.

Ji, thanks, I did ^_^!
And you have a wonderful smile :). Unlike me >:-).

Thiamere, I actually often wear white as a lid colour ;). Not just for highlighting.
And thanks :D! As soon as I'm done with 5 contest entries, the eye shadow part of My Collection, and loads more posts about swapping, I'd be delighted to do more reviews (lol).

Crystal, yes...The US Avon quads are definitely an improvement. I hope they show up over here some day ;).

Miku, thanks, I <3 it too ^_^!
And I love them too, they remind me of the night sky here :). I guess the White Beige nail can represent the moon :-P ;D.

Ning*Star, I thought she meant it when she said she was sorry...I hate it when people lie.
Oh well, enough time wasted on her. At least now I don't think anyone would want to swap with her. Thanks for the shout-out :).

Unknown said...

What a nice combination of colors!!

♡ Nic Nic ♡ said...

cute nail! I <3 glitter hehe

Mona said...

that does look like a chanel quad! cute glittery nails!

pinky"the-middle-name-is-princess"beanie said...

I love your nails! And that glittery top coat :) Have been wanting to try something dark for my nail polish, maybe I'll do it this weekend.

aquaracer said...

I love OPI's Russian Navy! It's such a pretty navy blue :)

i wanna go visit greece someday...i wanna see santorini :) from what city are you from? :)

Belle Du Jour said...

great blog!! I love the glitter!!
Come stop by my blog as well! :)
Hope to see you there

Cris said...

I'm in Athens :).

Thanks for the comments, everyone ^_^! Maybe I should wear more glitter :-P...

Elliott Broidy said...

Beautiful!